U.S. patent application number 14/475685 was filed with the patent office on 2015-03-12 for allowing mass re-onboarding of headless devices.
The applicant listed for this patent is Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Inc.. Invention is credited to Ashutosh Aggarwal, Gregory Burns, Eyal David Ilsar, Phil Tien Nguyen.
Application Number | 20150071216 14/475685 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 52625548 |
Filed Date | 2015-03-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150071216 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ilsar; Eyal David ; et
al. |
March 12, 2015 |
ALLOWING MASS RE-ONBOARDING OF HEADLESS DEVICES
Abstract
The disclosure relates to allowing mass re-onboarding of
onboardee devices. An onboarder device receives updated network
configuration parameters for a local wireless network, and sends
the updated network configuration parameters and a delay parameter
to one or more onboardee devices, wherein the one or more user
devices reconnect to the local wireless network using the updated
network configuration parameters at a time indicated by the delay
parameter. An onboardee device receives updated network
configuration parameters for a local wireless network, receives a
delay parameter indicating a time at which the updated network
configuration parameters will be valid, and connects to the local
wireless network at the time indicated by the delay parameter using
the updated network configuration parameters.
Inventors: |
Ilsar; Eyal David; (Rehovot,
IL) ; Aggarwal; Ashutosh; (San Diego, CA) ;
Nguyen; Phil Tien; (San Diego, CA) ; Burns;
Gregory; (Seattle, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Inc. |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
52625548 |
Appl. No.: |
14/475685 |
Filed: |
September 3, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61875437 |
Sep 9, 2013 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
370/329 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 48/16 20130101;
H04W 84/12 20130101; H04W 48/12 20130101; H04W 8/005 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
370/329 |
International
Class: |
H04W 48/12 20060101
H04W048/12; H04W 72/12 20060101 H04W072/12; H04W 72/04 20060101
H04W072/04 |
Claims
1. A method for re-onboarding one or more onboardee devices with an
onboarder device, comprising: receiving, at the onboarder device,
updated network configuration parameters for a local wireless
network; sending the updated network configuration parameters and a
delay parameter from the onboarder device to the one or more
onboardee devices via the local wireless network, the delay
parameter indicating a time at which the updated network
configuration parameters will be valid; receiving, at the one or
more onboardee devices, the updated network configuration
parameters for a local wireless network and the delay parameter;
and reconnecting, at the one or more onboardee devices, after
waiting for the updated network configuration parameters to be
valid, to the local wireless network using the updated network
configuration parameters.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the updated network configuration
parameters include updated logon credentials and/or an updated
Service Set Identifier (SSID) for the local wireless network.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more onboardee devices
include one or more headless devices.
4. The method of claim 1, including sending each of two or more
delay parameters from the onboarder device to a corresponding one
of two or more of the onboardee devices, wherein each of the two or
more delay parameter values indicates a different time at which the
updated network configuration parameters will be valid for a
corresponding one of the onboardee devices.
5. A wireless device comprising: a network transceiver to
communicate with wireless networks; a peer-to-peer platform to
communicate with one or more onboardee devices via the network
transceiver; an onboarding service that implements an onboarding
service application programming interface (API) that connects with
a peer onboarding service at the one or more onboardee devices via
the peer-to-peer platform; a remote onboarding manager coupled to
the onboarding service that is configured to: receive, at the
onboarder device, updated network configuration parameters for a
local wireless network; and send the updated network configuration
parameters and a delay parameter from the onboarder device to the
one or more onboardee devices via the local wireless network, the
delay parameter indicating a time at which the updated network
configuration parameters will be valid.
6. The wireless device of claim 5, wherein the updated network
configuration parameters include updated logon credentials and/or
an updated Service Set Identifier (SSID) for the local wireless
network.
7. The wireless device of claim 5, wherein the remote onboarding
manager is configured to receive the updated network configuration
parameters at the onboarder device from a user.
8. The wireless device of claim 5, wherein the one or more
onboardee devices comprise one or more Internet of Things (IoT)
devices.
9. The wireless device of claim 5, wherein the one or more
onboardee devices include one or more headless devices.
10. The wireless device of claim 5, wherein the remote onboarding
manager is configured to send each of two or more delay parameters
from the onboarder device to a corresponding one of two or more of
the onboardee devices, wherein each of the two or more delay
parameters indicates a different time at which the updated network
configuration parameters will be valid for a corresponding one of
the onboardee devices.
11. A non-transitory, tangible processor readable storage medium,
encoded with processor readable instructions to perform a method
for onboarding one or more onboardee devices with an onboarder
device, the method comprising: receiving, at the onboarder device,
updated network configuration parameters for a local wireless
network; sending the updated network configuration parameters and a
delay parameter from the onboarder device to the one or more
onboardee devices via the local wireless network, the delay
parameter indicating a time at which the updated network
configuration parameters will be valid; receiving, at the one or
more onboardee devices, the updated network configuration
parameters for a local wireless network and the delay parameter;
and reconnecting, after waiting for the updated network
configuration parameters to be valid, to the local wireless network
using the updated network configuration parameters.
12. The non-transitory, tangible processor readable storage medium
of claim 11, wherein the updated network configuration parameters
include updated logon credentials and/or an updated Service Set
Identifier (SSID) for the local wireless network.
13. The non-transitory, tangible processor readable storage medium
of claim 11, the method including sending each of two or more delay
parameters from the onboarder device to a corresponding one of two
or more of the onboardee devices, wherein each of the two or more
delay parameters indicates a different time at which the updated
network configuration parameters will be valid for a corresponding
one of the onboardee devices.
Description
CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119
[0001] The present Application for Patent claims priority to
Provisional Application No. 61/875,437 entitled "ALLOWING MASS
RE-ONBOARDING OF HEADLESS DEVICES" filed Sep. 9, 2013, and assigned
to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by
reference herein.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The disclosure is related to allowing mass onboarding of
devices in a wireless network.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The Internet is a global system of interconnected computers
and computer networks that use a standard Internet protocol suite
(e.g., the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet
Protocol (IP)) to communicate with each other. The Internet of
Things (IoT) is based on the idea that everyday objects, not just
computers and computer networks, can be readable, recognizable,
locatable, addressable, and controllable via an IoT communications
network (e.g., an ad-hoc system or the Internet).
[0004] A number of market trends are driving development of IoT
devices. For example, increasing energy costs are driving
governments' strategic investments in smart grids and support for
future consumption, such as for electric vehicles and public
charging stations. Increasing health care costs and aging
populations are driving development for remote/connected health
care and fitness services. A technological revolution in the home
is driving development for new "smart" services, including
consolidation by service providers marketing `N` play (e.g., data,
voice, video, security, energy management, etc.) and expanding home
networks. Buildings are getting smarter and more convenient as a
means to reduce operational costs for enterprise facilities.
[0005] There are a number of key applications for the IoT. For
example, in the area of smart grids and energy management, utility
companies can optimize delivery of energy to homes and businesses
while customers can better manage energy usage. In the area of home
and building automation, smart homes and buildings can have
centralized control over virtually any device or system in the home
or office, from appliances to plug-in electric vehicle (PEV)
security systems. In the field of asset tracking, enterprises,
hospitals, factories, and other large organizations can accurately
track the locations of high-value equipment, patients, vehicles,
and so on. In the area of health and wellness, doctors can remotely
monitor patients' health while people can track the progress of
fitness routines.
[0006] Accordingly, in the near future, increasing development in
IoT technologies will lead to numerous IoT devices surrounding a
user at home, in vehicles, at work, and many other locations. As
more and more devices become network-aware, problems that relate to
configuring devices to access wireless networks will therefore
become more acute. In particular, existing mechanisms to configure
devices to access wireless networks tend to suffer from various
drawbacks and limitations, which include a complex user experience,
insufficient reliability, and security vulnerabilities, among other
things. For example, configuring devices to access
infrastructure-mode Wi-Fi networks and other similar wireless
networks typically requires association and authentication of the
device.
[0007] In certain cases, a process called "onboarding" may be used
to accomplish the secure admission to the wireless network, wherein
onboarding may allow thin client devices, headless devices, and
other devices that may lack a friendly user interface to learn
sufficient information about the destination wireless network to
accomplish the admission and authentication processes required to
join the wireless network.
[0008] In an IoT environment, there may be many headless IoT
devices that are configured to communicate over a given local
wireless network, such as a user's home network. An issue may arise
when the user wishes to change the network configuration, such as
the logon credentials and/or the SSID, for the local wireless
network. But simply changing the network configuration causes the
headless devices to lose their connection to the local wireless
network, and there is currently no way to push new network
configuration parameters to headless devices when they are not
connected to a local wireless network. Rather, the headless devices
must revert to their soft AP mode and be re-onboarded on an
individual basis.
SUMMARY
[0009] The following presents a simplified summary relating to one
or more aspects and/or embodiments disclosed herein. As such, the
following summary should not be considered an extensive overview
relating to all contemplated aspects and/or embodiments, nor should
the following summary be regarded to identify key or critical
elements relating to all contemplated aspects and/or embodiments or
to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect and/or
embodiment. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose
to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects and/or
embodiments relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a
simplified form to precede the detailed description presented
below.
[0010] An aspect includes a method for onboarding one or more
onboardee devices with an onboarder device. The method may include
receiving, at the onboarder device, updated network configuration
parameters for a local wireless network and sending the updated
network configuration parameters and a delay parameter from the
onboarder device to the one or more onboardee devices via the local
wireless network. The delay parameter indicates time at which the
updated network configuration parameters will be valid. In
addition, the method may include receiving, at the one or more
onboardee devices, the updated network configuration parameters for
a local wireless network and the delay parameter. The one or more
onboardee devices then wait, at least, until the time at which the
updated network configuration parameters will be valid before
reconnecting to the local wireless network.
[0011] Another aspect may be characterized as a wireless device
that includes a network transceiver to communicate with wireless
networks and a peer-to-peer platform to communicate with one or
more onboardee devices via the network transceiver. The wireless
device may also include an onboarding service that implements an
onboarding service application programming interface (API) that
connects with a peer onboarding service at the one or more
onboardee devices via the peer-to-peer platform. A remote
onboarding manager that is coupled to the onboarding service may be
configured to receive, at the onboarder device, updated network
configuration parameters for a local wireless network and send the
updated network configuration parameters and a delay parameter from
the onboarder device to the one or more onboardee devices via the
local wireless network. The delay parameter indicates a time at
which the updated network configuration parameters will be
valid.
[0012] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects and
embodiments disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in
the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed
description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] A more complete appreciation of aspects of the disclosure
and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily
obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the
following detailed description when considered in connection with
the accompanying drawings which are presented solely for
illustration and not limitation of the disclosure, and in
which:
[0014] FIG. 1A illustrates a high-level system architecture of a
wireless communications system in accordance with an aspect of the
disclosure.
[0015] FIG. 1B illustrates a high-level system architecture of a
wireless communications system in accordance with another aspect of
the disclosure.
[0016] FIG. 1C illustrates a high-level system architecture of a
wireless communications system in accordance with an aspect of the
disclosure.
[0017] FIG. 1D illustrates a high-level system architecture of a
wireless communications system in accordance with an aspect of the
disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 1E illustrates a high-level system architecture of a
wireless communications system in accordance with an aspect of the
disclosure.
[0019] FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary Internet of Things (IoT)
device in accordance with aspects of the disclosure, while FIG. 2B
illustrates an exemplary passive IoT device in accordance with
aspects of the disclosure.
[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates a communication device that includes
logic configured to perform functionality in accordance with an
aspect of the disclosure.
[0021] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary server according to various
aspects of the disclosure.
[0022] FIG. 5 illustrates a wireless communication network that may
support discoverable peer-to-peer (P2P) services, in accordance
with one aspect of the disclosure.
[0023] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary environment in which
discoverable P2P services may be used to establish a
proximity-based distributed bus over which various devices may
communicate, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure.
[0024] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary message sequence in which
discoverable P2P services may be used to establish a
proximity-based distributed bus over which various devices may
communicate, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure.
[0025] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary system architecture in which
discoverable P2P services may be used to allow remote onboarding of
a headless devices over a Wi-Fi network, in accordance with one
aspect of the disclosure.
[0026] FIGS. 9A-B illustrate exemplary message sequences in which
discoverable P2P services may be used to allow remote onboarding of
headless devices over a Wi-Fi network, in accordance with one
aspect of the disclosure.
[0027] FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary method in which an
onboarder device may use discoverable P2P services to remotely
onboard an onboardee device over a Wi-Fi network, in accordance
with one aspect of the disclosure.
[0028] FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary method in which an
onboardee device may use discoverable P2P services to remotely
onboard over a Wi-Fi network, in accordance with one aspect of the
disclosure.
[0029] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary flow for allowing mass
re-onboarding of headless devices according to an aspect of the
disclosure.
[0030] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary flow for allowing mass
re-onboarding of headless devices according to an aspect of the
disclosure.
[0031] FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary block diagram that may
correspond to a device that uses discoverable P2P services to
communicate over a proximity-based distributed bus, in accordance
with one aspect of the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] Various aspects are disclosed in the following description
and related drawings to show specific examples relating to
exemplary embodiments. Alternate embodiments will be apparent to
those skilled in the pertinent art upon reading this disclosure,
and may be constructed and practiced without departing from the
scope or spirit of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known
elements will not be described in detail or may be omitted so as to
not obscure the relevant details of the aspects and embodiments
disclosed herein.
[0033] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an
example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described
herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as
preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the
term "embodiments" does not require that all embodiments include
the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.
[0034] The terminology used herein describes particular embodiments
only and should be construed to limit any embodiments disclosed
herein. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are
intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the
terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including,"
when used herein, specify the presence of stated features,
integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do
not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other
features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or
groups thereof.
[0035] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of
actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing
device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein
can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., an application
specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being
executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both.
Additionally, these sequence of actions described herein can be
considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer
readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set
of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an
associated processor to perform the functionality described herein.
Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a
number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to
be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for
each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any
such aspects may be described herein as, for example, "logic
configured to" perform the described action.
[0036] As used herein, the term "Internet of Things device" (or
"IoT device") may refer to any object (e.g., an appliance, a
sensor, etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., an Internet
protocol (IP) address, a Bluetooth identifier (ID), a near-field
communication (NFC) ID, etc.) and can transmit information to one
or more other devices over a wired or wireless connection. An IoT
device may have a passive communication interface, such as a quick
response (QR) code, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, an
NFC tag, or the like, or an active communication interface, such as
a modem, a transceiver, a transmitter-receiver, or the like. An IoT
device can have a particular set of attributes (e.g., a device
state or status, such as whether the IoT device is on or off, open
or closed, idle or active, available for task execution or busy,
and so on, a cooling or heating function, an environmental
monitoring or recording function, a light-emitting function, a
sound-emitting function, etc.) that can be embedded in and/or
controlled/monitored by a central processing unit (CPU),
microprocessor, ASIC, or the like, and configured for connection to
an IoT network such as a local ad-hoc network or the Internet. For
example, IoT devices may include, but are not limited to,
refrigerators, toasters, ovens, microwaves, freezers, dishwashers,
dishes, hand tools, clothes washers, clothes dryers, furnaces, air
conditioners, thermostats, televisions, light fixtures, vacuum
cleaners, sprinklers, electricity meters, gas meters, etc., so long
as the devices are equipped with an addressable communications
interface for communicating with the IoT network. IoT devices may
also include cell phones, desktop computers, laptop computers,
tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc.
Accordingly, the IoT network may be comprised of a combination of
"legacy" Internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop or desktop
computers, cell phones, etc.) in addition to devices that do not
typically have Internet-connectivity (e.g., dishwashers, etc.).
[0037] FIG. 1A illustrates a high-level system architecture of a
wireless communications system 100A in accordance with an aspect of
the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100A contains a
plurality of IoT devices, which include a television 110, an
outdoor air conditioning unit 112, a thermostat 114, a refrigerator
116, and a washer and dryer 118.
[0038] Referring to FIG. 1A, IoT devices 110-118 are configured to
communicate with an access network (e.g., an access point 125) over
a physical communications interface or layer, shown in FIG. 1A as
air interface 108 and a direct wired connection 109. The air
interface 108 can comply with a wireless Internet protocol (IP),
such as IEEE 802.11. Although FIG. 1A illustrates IoT devices
110-118 communicating over the air interface 108 and IoT device 118
communicating over the direct wired connection 109, each IoT device
may communicate over a wired or wireless connection, or both.
[0039] The Internet 175 includes a number of routing agents and
processing agents (not shown in FIG. 1A for the sake of
convenience). The Internet 175 is a global system of interconnected
computers and computer networks that uses a standard Internet
protocol suite (e.g., the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and
IP) to communicate among disparate devices/networks. TCP/IP
provides end-to-end connectivity specifying how data should be
formatted, addressed, transmitted, routed and received at the
destination.
[0040] In FIG. 1A, a computer 120, such as a desktop or personal
computer (PC), is shown as connecting to the Internet 175 directly
(e.g., over an Ethernet connection or Wi-Fi or 802.11-based
network). The computer 120 may have a wired connection to the
Internet 175, such as a direct connection to a modem or router,
which, in an example, can correspond to the access point 125 itself
(e.g., for a Wi-Fi router with both wired and wireless
connectivity). Alternatively, rather than being connected to the
access point 125 and the Internet 175 over a wired connection, the
computer 120 may be connected to the access point 125 over air
interface 108 or another wireless interface, and access the
Internet 175 over the air interface 108. Although illustrated as a
desktop computer, computer 120 may be a laptop computer, a tablet
computer, a PDA, a smart phone, or the like. The computer 120 may
be an IoT device and/or contain functionality to manage an IoT
network/group, such as the network/group of IoT devices
110-118.
[0041] The access point 125 may be connected to the Internet 175
via, for example, an optical communication system, such as FiOS, a
cable modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, or the like.
The access point 125 may communicate with IoT devices 110-120 and
the Internet 175 using the standard Internet protocols (e.g.,
TCP/IP).
[0042] Referring to FIG. 1A, an IoT server 170 is shown as
connected to the Internet 175. The IoT server 170 can be
implemented as a plurality of structurally separate servers, or
alternately may correspond to a single server. In an aspect, the
IoT server 170 is optional (as indicated by the dotted line), and
the group of IoT devices 110-120 may be a peer-to-peer (P2P)
network. In such a case, the IoT devices 110-120 can communicate
with each other directly over the air interface 108 and/or the
direct wired connection 109. Alternatively, or additionally, some
or all of IoT devices 110-120 may be configured with a
communication interface independent of air interface 108 and direct
wired connection 109. For example, if the air interface 108
corresponds to a Wi-Fi interface, one or more of the IoT devices
110-120 may have Bluetooth or NFC interfaces for communicating
directly with each other or other Bluetooth or NFC-enabled
devices.
[0043] In a peer-to-peer network, service discovery schemes can
multicast the presence of nodes, their capabilities, and group
membership. The peer-to-peer devices can establish associations and
subsequent interactions based on this information.
[0044] In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 1B
illustrates a high-level architecture of another wireless
communications system 100B that contains a plurality of IoT
devices. In general, the wireless communications system 100B shown
in FIG. 1B may include various components that are the same and/or
substantially similar to the wireless communications system 100A
shown in FIG. 1A, which was described in greater detail above
(e.g., various IoT devices, including a television 110, outdoor air
conditioning unit 112, thermostat 114, refrigerator 116, and washer
and dryer 118, that are configured to communicate with an access
point 125 over an air interface 108 and/or a direct wired
connection 109, a computer 120 that directly connects to the
Internet 175 and/or connects to the Internet 175 through access
point 125, and an IoT server 170 accessible via the Internet 175,
etc.). As such, for brevity and ease of description, various
details relating to certain components in the wireless
communications system 100B shown in FIG. 1B may be omitted herein
to the extent that the same or similar details have already been
provided above in relation to the wireless communications system
100A illustrated in FIG. 1A.
[0045] Referring to FIG. 1B, the wireless communications system
100B may include a supervisor device 130, which may alternatively
be referred to as an IoT manager 130 or IoT manager device 130. As
such, where the following description uses the term "supervisor
device" 130, those skilled in the art will appreciate that any
references to an IoT manager, group owner, or similar terminology
may refer to the supervisor device 130 or another physical or
logical component that provides the same or substantially similar
functionality.
[0046] In an embodiment, the supervisor device 130 may generally
observe, monitor, control, or otherwise manage the various other
components in the wireless communications system 100B. For example,
the supervisor device 130 can communicate with an access network
(e.g., access point 125) over air interface 108 and/or a direct
wired connection 109 to monitor or manage attributes, activities,
or other states associated with the various IoT devices 110-120 in
the wireless communications system 100B. The supervisor device 130
may have a wired or wireless connection to the Internet 175 and
optionally to the IoT server 170 (shown as a dotted line). The
supervisor device 130 may obtain information from the Internet 175
and/or the IoT server 170 that can be used to further monitor or
manage attributes, activities, or other states associated with the
various IoT devices 110-120. The supervisor device 130 may be a
standalone device or one of IoT devices 110-120, such as computer
120. The supervisor device 130 may be a physical device or a
software application running on a physical device. The supervisor
device 130 may include a user interface that can output information
relating to the monitored attributes, activities, or other states
associated with the IoT devices 110-120 and receive input
information to control or otherwise manage the attributes,
activities, or other states associated therewith. Accordingly, the
supervisor device 130 may generally include various components and
support various wired and wireless communication interfaces to
observe, monitor, control, or otherwise manage the various
components in the wireless communications system 100B.
[0047] The wireless communications system 100B shown in FIG. 1B may
include one or more passive IoT devices 105 (in contrast to the
active IoT devices 110-120) that can be coupled to or otherwise
made part of the wireless communications system 100B. In general,
the passive IoT devices 105 may include barcoded devices, Bluetooth
devices, radio frequency (RF) devices, RFID tagged devices,
infrared (IR) devices, NFC tagged devices, or any other suitable
device that can provide its identifier and attributes to another
device when queried over a short range interface. Active IoT
devices may detect, store, communicate, act on, and/or the like,
changes in attributes of passive IoT devices.
[0048] For example, passive IoT devices 105 may include a coffee
cup and a container of orange juice that each has an RFID tag or
barcode. A cabinet IoT device and the refrigerator IoT device 116
may each have an appropriate scanner or reader that can read the
RFID tag or barcode to detect when the coffee cup and/or the
container of orange juice passive IoT devices 105 have been added
or removed. In response to the cabinet IoT device detecting the
removal of the coffee cup passive IoT device 105 and the
refrigerator IoT device 116 detecting the removal of the container
of orange juice passive IoT device, the supervisor device 130 may
receive one or more signals that relate to the activities detected
at the cabinet IoT device and the refrigerator IoT device 116. The
supervisor device 130 may then infer that a user is drinking orange
juice from the coffee cup and/or likes to drink orange juice from a
coffee cup.
[0049] Although the foregoing describes the passive IoT devices 105
as having some form of RFID tag or barcode communication interface,
the passive IoT devices 105 may include one or more devices or
other physical objects that do not have such communication
capabilities. For example, certain IoT devices may have appropriate
scanner or reader mechanisms that can detect shapes, sizes, colors,
and/or other observable features associated with the passive IoT
devices 105 to identify the passive IoT devices 105. In this
manner, any suitable physical object may communicate its identity
and attributes and become part of the wireless communication system
100B and be observed, monitored, controlled, or otherwise managed
with the supervisor device 130. Further, passive IoT devices 105
may be coupled to or otherwise made part of the wireless
communications system 100A in FIG. 1A and observed, monitored,
controlled, or otherwise managed in a substantially similar
manner.
[0050] In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 1C
illustrates a high-level architecture of another wireless
communications system 100C that contains a plurality of IoT
devices. In general, the wireless communications system 100C shown
in FIG. 1C may include various components that are the same and/or
substantially similar to the wireless communications systems 100A
and 100B shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, respectively, which were
described in greater detail above. As such, for brevity and ease of
description, various details relating to certain components in the
wireless communications system 100C shown in FIG. 1C may be omitted
herein to the extent that the same or similar details have already
been provided above in relation to the wireless communications
systems 100A and 100B illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B,
respectively.
[0051] The communications system 100C shown in FIG. 1C illustrates
exemplary peer-to-peer communications between the IoT devices
110-118 and the supervisor device 130. As shown in FIG. 1C, the
supervisor device 130 communicates with each of the IoT devices
110-118 over an IoT supervisor interface. Further, IoT devices 110
and 114, IoT devices 112, 114, and 116, and IoT devices 116 and
118, communicate directly with each other.
[0052] The IoT devices 110-118 make up an IoT group 160. An IoT
device group 160 is a group of locally connected IoT devices, such
as the IoT devices connected to a user's home network. Although not
shown, multiple IoT device groups may be connected to and/or
communicate with each other via an IoT SuperAgent 140 connected to
the Internet 175. At a high level, the supervisor device 130
manages intra-group communications, while the IoT SuperAgent 140
can manage inter-group communications. Although shown as separate
devices, the supervisor device 130 and the IoT SuperAgent 140 may
be, or reside on, the same device (e.g., a standalone device or an
IoT device, such as computer 120 in FIG. 1A). Alternatively, the
IoT SuperAgent 140 may correspond to or include the functionality
of the access point 125. As yet another alternative, the IoT
SuperAgent 140 may correspond to or include the functionality of an
IoT server, such as IoT server 170. The IoT SuperAgent 140 may
encapsulate gateway functionality 145.
[0053] Each IoT device 110-118 can treat the supervisor device 130
as a peer and transmit attribute/schema updates to the supervisor
device 130. When an IoT device needs to communicate with another
IoT device, it can request the pointer to that IoT device from the
supervisor device 130 and then communicate with the target IoT
device as a peer. The IoT devices 110-118 communicate with each
other over a peer-to-peer communication network using a common
messaging protocol (CMP). As long as two IoT devices are
CMP-enabled and connected over a common communication transport,
they can communicate with each other. In the protocol stack, the
CMP layer 154 is below the application layer 152 and above the
transport layer 156 and the physical layer 158.
[0054] In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 1D
illustrates a high-level architecture of another wireless
communications system 100D that contains a plurality of IoT
devices. In general, the wireless communications system 100D shown
in FIG. 1D may include various components that are the same and/or
substantially similar to the wireless communications systems 100A-C
shown in FIGS. 1-C, respectively, which were described in greater
detail above. As such, for brevity and ease of description, various
details relating to certain components in the wireless
communications system 100D shown in FIG. 1D may be omitted herein
to the extent that the same or similar details have already been
provided above in relation to the wireless communications systems
100A-C illustrated in FIGS. 1A-C, respectively.
[0055] The Internet 175 is a "resource" that can be regulated using
the concept of the IoT. However, the Internet 175 is just one
example of a resource that is regulated, and any resource could be
regulated using the concept of the IoT. Other resources that can be
regulated include, but are not limited to, electricity, gas,
storage, security, and the like. An IoT device may be connected to
the resource and thereby regulate it, or the resource could be
regulated over the Internet 175. FIG. 1D illustrates several
resources 180, such as natural gas, gasoline, hot water, and
electricity, wherein the resources 180 can be regulated in addition
to and/or over the Internet 175.
[0056] IoT devices can communicate with each other to regulate
their use of a resource 180. For example, IoT devices such as a
toaster, a computer, and a hairdryer may communicate with each
other over a Bluetooth communication interface to regulate their
use of electricity (the resource 180). As another example, IoT
devices such as a desktop computer, a telephone, and a tablet
computer may communicate over a Wi-Fi communication interface to
regulate their access to the Internet 175 (the resource 180). As
yet another example, IoT devices such as a stove, a clothes dryer,
and a water heater may communicate over a Wi-Fi communication
interface to regulate their use of gas. Alternatively, or
additionally, each IoT device may be connected to an IoT server,
such as IoT server 170, which has logic to regulate their use of
the resource 180 based on information received from the IoT
devices.
[0057] In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 1E
illustrates a high-level architecture of another wireless
communications system 100E that contains a plurality of IoT
devices. In general, the wireless communications system 100E shown
in FIG. 1E may include various components that are the same and/or
substantially similar to the wireless communications systems 100A-D
shown in FIGS. 1-D, respectively, which were described in greater
detail above. As such, for brevity and ease of description, various
details relating to certain components in the wireless
communications system 100E shown in FIG. 1E may be omitted herein
to the extent that the same or similar details have already been
provided above in relation to the wireless communications systems
100A-D illustrated in FIGS. 1A-D, respectively.
[0058] The communications system 100E includes two IoT device
groups 160A and 160B. Multiple IoT device groups may be connected
to and/or communicate with each other via an IoT SuperAgent
connected to the Internet 175. At a high level, an IoT SuperAgent
may manage inter-group communications among IoT device groups. For
example, in FIG. 1E, the IoT device group 160A includes IoT devices
116A, 122A, and 124A and an IoT SuperAgent 140A, while IoT device
group 160B includes IoT devices 116B, 122B, and 124B and an IoT
SuperAgent 140B. As such, the IoT SuperAgents 140A and 140B may
connect to the Internet 175 and communicate with each other over
the Internet 175 and/or communicate with each other directly to
facilitate communication between the IoT device groups 160A and
160B. Furthermore, although FIG. 1E illustrates two IoT device
groups 160A and 160B communicating with each other via IoT
SuperAgents 140A and 140B, those skilled in the art will appreciate
that any number of IoT device groups may suitably communicate with
each other using IoT SuperAgents.
[0059] FIG. 2A illustrates a high-level example of an IoT device
200A in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. While external
appearances and/or internal components can differ significantly
among IoT devices, most IoT devices will have some sort of user
interface, which may comprise a display and a means for user input.
IoT devices without a user interface can be communicated with
remotely over a wired or wireless network, such as air interface
108 in FIGS. 1A-B.
[0060] As shown in FIG. 2A, in an example configuration for the IoT
device 200A, an external casing of IoT device 200A may be
configured with a display 226, a power button 222, and two control
buttons 224A and 224B, among other components, as is known in the
art. The display 226 may be a touchscreen display, in which case
the control buttons 224A and 224B may not be necessary. While not
shown explicitly as part of IoT device 200A, the IoT device 200A
may include one or more external antennas and/or one or more
integrated antennas that are built into the external casing,
including but not limited to Wi-Fi antennas, cellular antennas,
satellite position system (SPS) antennas (e.g., global positioning
system (GPS) antennas), and so on.
[0061] While internal components of IoT devices, such as IoT device
200A, can be embodied with different hardware configurations, a
basic high-level configuration for internal hardware components is
shown as platform 202 in FIG. 2A. The platform 202 can receive and
execute software applications, data and/or commands transmitted
over a network interface, such as air interface 108 in FIGS. 1A-B
and/or a wired interface. The platform 202 can also independently
execute locally stored applications. The platform 202 can include
one or more transceivers 206 configured for wired and/or wireless
communication (e.g., a Wi-Fi transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver,
a cellular transceiver, a satellite transceiver, a GPS or SPS
receiver, etc.) operably coupled to one or more processors 208,
such as a microcontroller, microprocessor, application specific
integrated circuit, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable
logic circuit, or other data processing device, which will be
generally referred to as processor 208. The processor 208 can
execute application programming instructions within a memory 212 of
the IoT device. The memory 212 can include one or more of read-only
memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), electrically erasable
programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash cards, or any memory common to
computer platforms. One or more input/output (I/O) interfaces 214
can be configured to allow the processor 208 to communicate with
and control from various I/O devices such as the display 226, power
button 222, control buttons 224A and 224B as illustrated, and any
other devices, such as sensors, actuators, relays, valves,
switches, and the like associated with the IoT device 200A.
[0062] Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure can include an IoT
device (e.g., IoT device 200A) including the ability to perform the
functions described herein. As will be appreciated by those skilled
in the art, the various logic elements can be embodied in discrete
elements, software modules executed on a processor (e.g., processor
208) or any combination of software and hardware to achieve the
functionality disclosed herein. For example, transceiver 206,
processor 208, memory 212, and I/O interface 214 may all be used
cooperatively to load, store and execute the various functions
disclosed herein and thus the logic to perform these functions may
be distributed over various elements. Alternatively, the
functionality could be incorporated into one discrete component.
Therefore, the features of the IoT device 200A in FIG. 2A are to be
considered merely illustrative and the disclosure is not limited to
the illustrated features or arrangement.
[0063] FIG. 2B illustrates a high-level example of a passive IoT
device 200B in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. In
general, the passive IoT device 200B shown in FIG. 2B may include
various components that are the same and/or substantially similar
to the IoT device 200A shown in FIG. 2A, which was described in
greater detail above. As such, for brevity and ease of description,
various details relating to certain components in the passive IoT
device 200B shown in FIG. 2B may be omitted herein to the extent
that the same or similar details have already been provided above
in relation to the IoT device 200A illustrated in FIG. 2A.
[0064] The passive IoT device 200B shown in FIG. 2B may generally
differ from the IoT device 200A shown in FIG. 2A in that the
passive IoT device 200B may not have a processor, internal memory,
or certain other components. Instead, in one embodiment, the
passive IoT device 200B may only include an I/O interface 214 or
other suitable mechanism that allows the passive IoT device 200B to
be observed, monitored, controlled, managed, or otherwise known
within a controlled IoT network. For example, in one embodiment,
the I/O interface 214 associated with the passive IoT device 200B
may include a barcode, Bluetooth interface, radio frequency (RF)
interface, RFID tag, IR interface, NFC interface, or any other
suitable I/O interface that can provide an identifier and
attributes associated with the passive IoT device 200B to another
device when queried over a short range interface (e.g., an active
IoT device, such as IoT device 200A, that can detect, store,
communicate, act on, or otherwise process information relating to
the attributes associated with the passive IoT device 200B).
[0065] Although the foregoing describes the passive IoT device 200B
as having some form of RF, barcode, or other I/O interface 214, the
passive IoT device 200B may comprise a device or other physical
object that does not have such an I/O interface 214. For example,
certain IoT devices may have appropriate scanner or reader
mechanisms that can detect shapes, sizes, colors, and/or other
observable features associated with the passive IoT device 200B to
identify the passive IoT device 200B. In this manner, any suitable
physical object may communicate its identity and attributes and be
observed, monitored, controlled, or otherwise managed within a
controlled IoT network.
[0066] FIG. 3 illustrates a communication device 300 that includes
logic configured to perform functionality. The communication device
300 can correspond to any of the above-noted communication devices,
including but not limited to IoT devices 110-120, IoT device 200A,
any components coupled to the Internet 175 (e.g., the IoT server
170), and so on. Thus, communication device 300 can correspond to
any electronic device that is configured to communicate with (or
facilitate communication with) one or more other entities over the
wireless communications systems 100A-B of FIGS. 1A-B.
[0067] Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 includes
logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 305. In an
example, if the communication device 300 corresponds to a wireless
communications device (e.g., IoT device 200A and/or passive IoT
device 200B), the logic configured to receive and/or transmit
information 305 can include a wireless communications interface
(e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Long-Term Evolution (LTE)
Direct, etc.) such as a wireless transceiver and associated
hardware (e.g., an RF antenna, a MODEM, a modulator and/or
demodulator, etc.). In another example, the logic configured to
receive and/or transmit information 305 can correspond to a wired
communications interface (e.g., a serial connection, a USB or
Firewire connection, an Ethernet connection through which the
Internet 175 can be accessed, etc.). Thus, if the communication
device 300 corresponds to some type of network-based server (e.g.,
the application 170), the logic configured to receive and/or
transmit information 305 can correspond to an Ethernet card, in an
example, that connects the network-based server to other
communication entities via an Ethernet protocol. In a further
example, the logic configured to receive and/or transmit
information 305 can include sensory or measurement hardware by
which the communication device 300 can monitor its local
environment (e.g., an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, a light
sensor, an antenna for monitoring local RF signals, etc.). The
logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 305 can
also include software that, when executed, permits the associated
hardware of the logic configured to receive and/or transmit
information 305 to perform its reception and/or transmission
function(s). However, the logic configured to receive and/or
transmit information 305 does not correspond to software alone, and
the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 305
relies at least in part upon hardware to achieve its
functionality.
[0068] Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 further
includes logic configured to process information 310. In an
example, the logic configured to process information 310 can
include at least a processor. Example implementations of the type
of processing that can be performed by the logic configured to
process information 310 includes but is not limited to performing
determinations, establishing connections, making selections between
different information options, performing evaluations related to
data, interacting with sensors coupled to the communication device
300 to perform measurement operations, converting information from
one format to another (e.g., between different protocols such as
.wmv to .avi, etc.), and so on. For example, the processor included
in the logic configured to process information 310 can correspond
to a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a field
programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,
discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or
any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described
herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in
the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,
controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also
be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration). The logic configured to
process information 310 can also include software that, when
executed, permits the associated hardware of the logic configured
to process information 310 to perform its processing function(s).
However, the logic configured to process information 310 does not
correspond to software alone, and the logic configured to process
information 310 relies at least in part upon hardware to achieve
its functionality.
[0069] Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 further
includes logic configured to store information 315. In an example,
the logic configured to store information 315 can include at least
a non-transitory memory and associated hardware (e.g., a memory
controller, etc.). For example, the non-transitory memory included
in the logic configured to store information 315 can correspond to
RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), EEPROM,
registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form
of storage medium known in the art. The logic configured to store
information 315 can also include software that, when executed,
permits the associated hardware of the logic configured to store
information 315 to perform its storage function(s). However, the
logic configured to store information 315 does not correspond to
software alone, and the logic configured to store information 315
relies at least in part upon hardware to achieve its
functionality.
[0070] Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 further
optionally includes logic configured to present information 320. In
an example, the logic configured to present information 320 can
include at least an output device and associated hardware. For
example, the output device can include a video output device (e.g.,
a display screen, a port that can carry video information such as
USB, HDMI, etc.), an audio output device (e.g., speakers, a port
that can carry audio information such as a microphone jack, USB,
HDMI, etc.), a vibration device and/or any other device by which
information can be formatted for output or actually outputted by a
user or operator of the communication device 300. For example, if
the communication device 300 corresponds to the IoT device 200A as
shown in FIG. 2A and/or the passive IoT device 200B as shown in
FIG. 2B, the logic configured to present information 320 can
include the display 226. In a further example, the logic configured
to present information 320 can be omitted for certain communication
devices, such as network communication devices that do not have a
local user (e.g., network switches or routers, remote servers,
etc.). The logic configured to present information 320 can also
include software that, when executed, permits the associated
hardware of the logic configured to present information 320 to
perform its presentation function(s). However, the logic configured
to present information 320 does not correspond to software alone,
and the logic configured to present information 320 relies at least
in part upon hardware to achieve its functionality.
[0071] Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 further
optionally includes logic configured to receive local user input
325. In an example, the logic configured to receive local user
input 325 can include at least a user input device and associated
hardware. For example, the user input device can include buttons, a
touchscreen display, a keyboard, a camera, an audio input device
(e.g., a microphone or a port that can carry audio information such
as a microphone jack, etc.), and/or any other device by which
information can be received from a user or operator of the
communication device 300. For example, if the communication device
300 corresponds to the IoT device 200A as shown in FIG. 2A and/or
the passive IoT device 200B as shown in FIG. 2B, the logic
configured to receive local user input 325 can include the buttons
222, 224A, and 224B, the display 226 (if a touchscreen), etc. In a
further example, the logic configured to receive local user input
325 can be omitted for certain communication devices, such as
network communication devices that do not have a local user (e.g.,
network switches or routers, remote servers, etc.). The logic
configured to receive local user input 325 can also include
software that, when executed, permits the associated hardware of
the logic configured to receive local user input 325 to perform its
input reception function(s). However, the logic configured to
receive local user input 325 does not correspond to software alone,
and the logic configured to receive local user input 325 relies at
least in part upon hardware to achieve its functionality.
[0072] Referring to FIG. 3, while the configured logics of 305
through 325 are shown as separate or distinct blocks in FIG. 3, it
will be appreciated that the hardware and/or software by which the
respective configured logic performs its functionality can overlap
in part. For example, any software used to facilitate the
functionality of the configured logics of 305 through 325 can be
stored in the non-transitory memory associated with the logic
configured to store information 315, such that the configured
logics of 305 through 325 each performs their functionality (i.e.,
in this case, software execution) based in part upon the operation
of software stored by the logic configured to store information
315. Likewise, hardware that is directly associated with one of the
configured logics can be borrowed or used by other configured
logics from time to time. For example, the processor of the logic
configured to process information 310 can format data into an
appropriate format before being transmitted by the logic configured
to receive and/or transmit information 305, such that the logic
configured to receive and/or transmit information 305 performs its
functionality (i.e., in this case, transmission of data) based in
part upon the operation of hardware (i.e., the processor)
associated with the logic configured to process information
310.
[0073] Generally, unless stated otherwise explicitly, the phrase
"logic configured to" as used throughout this disclosure is
intended to invoke an aspect that is at least partially implemented
with hardware, and is not intended to map to software-only
implementations that are independent of hardware. Also, it will be
appreciated that the configured logic or "logic configured to" in
the various blocks are not limited to specific logic gates or
elements, but generally refer to the ability to perform the
functionality described herein (either via hardware or a
combination of hardware and software). Thus, the configured logics
or "logic configured to" as illustrated in the various blocks are
not necessarily implemented as logic gates or logic elements
despite sharing the word "logic." Other interactions or cooperation
between the logic in the various blocks will become clear to one of
ordinary skill in the art from a review of the aspects described
below in more detail.
[0074] The various embodiments may be implemented on any of a
variety of commercially available server devices, such as server
400 illustrated in FIG. 4. In an example, the server 400 may
correspond to one example configuration of the IoT server 170
described above. In FIG. 4, the server 400 includes a processor 401
coupled to volatile memory 402 and a large capacity nonvolatile
memory, such as a disk drive 403. The server 400 may also include a
floppy disc drive, compact disc (CD) or DVD disc drive 406 coupled
to the processor 401. The server 400 may also include network
access ports 404 coupled to the processor 401 for establishing data
connections with a network 407, such as a local area network
coupled to other broadcast system computers and servers or to the
Internet. In context with FIG. 3, it will be appreciated that the
server 400 of FIG. 4 illustrates one example implementation of the
communication device 300, whereby the logic configured to transmit
and/or receive information 305 corresponds to the network access
points 404 used by the server 400 to communicate with the network
407, the logic configured to process information 310 corresponds to
the processor 401, and the logic configuration to store information
315 corresponds to any combination of the volatile memory 402, the
disk drive 403 and/or the disc drive 406. The optional logic
configured to present information 320 and the optional logic
configured to receive local user input 325 are not shown explicitly
in FIG. 4 and may or may not be included therein. Thus, FIG. 4
helps to demonstrate that the communication device 300 may be
implemented as a server, in addition to an IoT device
implementation as in FIG. 2A.
[0075] In general, user equipment (UE) such as telephones, tablet
computers, laptop and desktop computers, certain vehicles, etc.,
can be configured to connect with each other either locally (e.g.,
Bluetooth, local Wi-Fi, etc.) or remotely (e.g., via cellular
networks, through the Internet, etc.). Furthermore, certain UEs may
also support proximity-based peer-to-peer (P2P) communication using
certain wireless networking technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi Direct, etc.) that enable devices to make a one-to-one
connection or simultaneously connect to a group that includes
several devices in order to directly communicate with one another.
To that end, FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication
network or WAN 500 that may support discoverable P2P services. For
example, in one embodiment, the wireless communication network 500
may comprise an LTE network or another suitable WAN that includes
various base stations 510 and other network entities. For
simplicity, only three base stations 510a, 510b and 510c, one
network controller 530, and one Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP) server 540 are shown in FIG. 5. A base station 510 may be an
entity that communicates with devices 520 and may also be referred
to as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), an access point, etc. Each
base station 510 may provide communication coverage for a
particular geographic area and may support communication for the
devices 520 located within the coverage area. To improve network
capacity, the overall coverage area of a base station 510 may be
partitioned into multiple (e.g., three) smaller areas, wherein each
smaller area may be served by a respective base station 510. In
3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to a coverage area of a base
station 510 and/or a base station subsystem 510 serving this
coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.
In 3GPP2, the term "sector" or "cell-sector" can refer to a
coverage area of a base station 510 and/or a base station subsystem
510 serving this coverage area. For clarity, the 3GPP concept of
"cell" may be used in the description herein.
[0076] A base station 510 may provide communication coverage for a
macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or other cell types. A
macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,
several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by
devices 520 with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a
relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access
by devices 520 with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a
relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow
restricted access by devices 520 having association with the femto
cell (e.g., devices 520 in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG)). In the
example shown in FIG. 5, wireless network 500 includes macro base
stations 510a, 510b and 510c for macro cells. Wireless network 500
may also include pico base stations 510 for pico cells and/or home
base stations 510 for femto cells (not shown in FIG. 5).
[0077] Network controller 530 may couple to a set of base stations
510 and may provide coordination and control for these base
stations 510. Network controller 530 may be a single network entity
or a collection of network entities that can communicate with the
base stations via a backhaul. The base stations may also
communicate with one another, e.g., directly or indirectly via
wireless or wireline backhaul. DHCP server 540 may support P2P
communication, as described below. DHCP server 540 may be part of
wireless network 500, external to wireless network 500, run via
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), or any suitable combination
thereof. DHCP server 540 may be a separate entity (e.g., as shown
in FIG. 5) or may be part of a base station 510, network controller
530, or some other entity. In any case, DHCP server 540 may be
reachable by devices 520 desiring to communicate peer-to-peer.
[0078] Devices 520 may be dispersed throughout wireless network
500, and each device 520 may be stationary or mobile. A device 520
may also be referred to as a node, user equipment (UE), a station,
a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber
unit, etc. A device 520 may be a cellular phone, a personal digital
assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device,
a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless
local loop (WLL) station, a smart phone, a netbook, a smartbook, a
tablet, etc. A device 520 may communicate with base stations 510 in
the wireless network 500 and may further communicate peer-to-peer
with other devices 520. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, devices
520a and 520b may communicate peer-to-peer, devices 520c and 520d
may communicate peer-to-peer, devices 520e and 520f may communicate
peer-to-peer, and devices 520g, 520h, and 520i may communicate
peer-to-peer, while remaining devices 520 may communicate with base
stations 510. As further shown in FIG. 5, devices 520a, 520d, 520f,
and 520h may also communicate with base stations 500, e.g., when
not engaged in P2P communication or possibly concurrent with P2P
communication.
[0079] In the description herein, WAN communication may refer to
communication between a device 520 and a base station 510 in
wireless network 500, e.g., for a call with a remote entity such as
another device 520. A WAN device is a device 520 that is interested
or engaged in WAN communication. P2P communication refers to direct
communication between two or more devices 520, without going
through any base station 510. A P2P device is a device 520 that is
interested or engaged in P2P communication, e.g., a device 520 that
has traffic data for another device 520 within proximity of the P2P
device. Two devices may be considered to be within proximity of one
another, for example, if each device 520 can detect the other
device 520. In general, a device 520 may communicate with another
device 520 either directly for P2P communication or via at least
one base station 510 for WAN communication.
[0080] In one embodiment, direct communication between P2P devices
520 may be organized into P2P groups. More particularly, a P2P
group generally refers to a group of two or more devices 520
interested or engaged in P2P communication and a P2P link refers to
a communication link for a P2P group. Furthermore, in one
embodiment, a P2P group may include one device 520 designated a P2P
group owner (or a P2P server) and one or more devices 520
designated P2P clients that are served by the P2P group owner. The
P2P group owner may perform certain management functions such as
exchanging signaling with a WAN, coordinating data transmission
between the P2P group owner and P2P clients, etc. For example, as
shown in FIG. 5, a first P2P group includes devices 520a and 520b
under the coverage of base station 510a, a second P2P group
includes devices 520c and 520d under the coverage of base station
510b, a third P2P group includes devices 520e and 520f under the
coverage of different base stations 510b and 510c, and a fourth P2P
group includes devices 520g, 520h and 520i under the coverage of
base station 510c. Devices 520a, 520d, 520f, and 520h may be P2P
group owners for their respective P2P groups and devices 520b,
520c, 520e, 520g, and 520i may be P2P clients in their respective
P2P groups. The other devices 520 in FIG. 5 may be engaged in WAN
communication.
[0081] In one embodiment, P2P communication may occur only within a
P2P group and may further occur only between the P2P group owner
and the P2P clients associated therewith. For example, if two P2P
clients within the same P2P group (e.g., devices 520g and 520i)
desire to exchange information, one of the P2P clients may send the
information to the P2P group owner (e.g., device 520h) and the P2P
group owner may then relay transmissions to the other P2P client.
In one embodiment, a particular device 520 may belong to multiple
P2P groups and may behave as either a P2P group owner or a P2P
client in each P2P group. Furthermore, in one embodiment, a
particular P2P client may belong to only one P2P group or belong to
multiple P2P group and communicate with P2P devices 520 in any of
the multiple P2P groups at any particular moment. In general,
communication may be facilitated via transmissions on the downlink
and uplink. For WAN communication, the downlink (or forward link)
refers to the communication link from base stations 510 to devices
520, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication
link from devices 520 to base stations 510. For P2P communication,
the P2P downlink refers to the communication link from P2P group
owners to P2P clients and the P2P uplink refers to the
communication link from P2P clients to P2P group owners. In certain
embodiments, rather than using WAN technologies to communicate P2P,
two or more devices may form smaller P2P groups and communicate P2P
on a wireless local area network (WLAN) using technologies such as
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi Direct. For example, P2P communication
using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, or other WLAN technologies
may enable P2P communication between two or more mobile phones,
game consoles, laptop computers, or other suitable communication
entities.
[0082] According to one aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 6
illustrates an exemplary environment 600 in which discoverable P2P
services may be used to establish a proximity-based distributed bus
over which various devices 610, 630, 640 may communicate. For
example, in one embodiment, communications between applications and
the like, on a single platform may be facilitated using an
interprocess communication protocol (IPC) framework over the
distributed bus 625, which may comprise a software bus used to
enable application-to-application communications in a networked
computing environment where applications register with the
distributed bus 625 to offer services to other applications and
other applications query the distributed bus 625 for information
about registered applications. Such a protocol may provide
asynchronous notifications and remote procedure calls (RPCs) in
which signal messages (e.g., notifications) may be point-to-point
or broadcast, method call messages (e.g., RPCs) may be synchronous
or asynchronous, and the distributed bus 625 (e.g., a "daemon" bus
process) may handle message routing between the various devices
610, 630, 640.
[0083] In one embodiment, the distributed bus 625 may be supported
by a variety of transport protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, TCP/IP,
Wi-Fi, CDMA, GPRS, UMTS, etc.). For example, according to one
aspect, a first device 610 may include a distributed bus node 612
and one or more local endpoints 614, wherein the distributed bus
node 612 may facilitate communications between local endpoints 614
associated with the first device 610 and local endpoints 634 and
644 associated with a second device 630 and a third device 640
through the distributed bus 625 (e.g., via distributed bus nodes
632 and 642 on the second device 630 and the third device 640). As
will be described in further detail below with reference to FIG. 7,
the distributed bus 625 may support symmetric multi-device network
topologies and may provide a robust operation in the presence of
device drops-outs. As such, the virtual distributed bus 625, which
may generally be independent from any underlying transport protocol
(e.g., Bluetooth, TCP/IP, Wi-Fi, etc.) may allow various security
options, from unsecured (e.g., open) to secured (e.g.,
authenticated and encrypted), wherein the security options can be
used while facilitating spontaneous connections with among the
first device 610, the second device 630, and the third device 640
without intervention when the various devices 610, 630, 640 come
into range or proximity to each other.
[0084] According to one aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 7
illustrates an exemplary message sequence 700 in which discoverable
P2P services may be used to establish a proximity-based distributed
bus over which a first device ("Device A") 710 and a second device
("Device B") 730 may communicate. Generally, Device A 710 may
request to communicate with Device B 730, wherein Device A 710 may
a include local endpoint 714 (e.g., a local application, service,
etc.), which may make a request to communicate in addition to a bus
node 712 that may assist in facilitating such communications.
Further, Device B 730 may include a local endpoint 734 with which
the local endpoint 714 may be attempting to communicate in addition
to a bus node 732 that may assist in facilitating communications
between the local endpoint 714 on the Device A 710 and the local
endpoint 734 on Device B 730.
[0085] In one embodiment, the bus nodes 712 and 732 may perform a
suitable discovery mechanism at message sequence step 754. For
example, mechanisms for discovering connections supported by
Bluetooth, TCP/IP, UNIX, or the like may be used. At message
sequence step 756, the local endpoint 714 on Device A 710 may
request to connect to an entity, service, endpoint etc, available
through bus node 712. In one embodiment, the request may include a
request-and-response process between local endpoint 714 and bus
node 712. At message sequence step 758, a distributed message bus
may be formed to connect bus node 712 to bus node 732 and thereby
establish a P2P connection between Device A 710 and Device B 730.
In one embodiment, communications to form the distributed bus
between the bus nodes 712 and 732 may be facilitated using a
suitable proximity-based P2P protocol (e.g., the AllJoyn.TM.
software framework designed to enable interoperability among
connected products and software applications from different
manufacturers to dynamically create proximal networks and
facilitate proximal P2P communication). Alternatively, in one
embodiment, a server (not shown) may facilitate the connection
between the bus nodes 712 and 732. Furthermore, in one embodiment,
a suitable authentication mechanism may be used prior to forming
the connection between bus nodes 712 and 732 (e.g., SASL
authentication in which a client may send an authentication command
to initiate an authentication conversation). Still further, during
message sequence step 758, bus nodes 712 and 732 may exchange
information about other available endpoints (e.g., local endpoints
644 on Device C 640 in FIG. 6). In such embodiments, each local
endpoint that a bus node maintains may be advertised to other bus
nodes, wherein the advertisement may include unique endpoint names,
transport types, connection parameters, or other suitable
information.
[0086] In one embodiment, at message sequence step 760, bus node
712 and bus node 732 may use obtained information associated with
the local endpoints 734 and 714, respectively, to create virtual
endpoints that may represent the real obtained endpoints available
through various bus nodes. In one embodiment, message routing on
the bus node 712 may use real and virtual endpoints to deliver
messages. Further, there may one local virtual endpoint for every
endpoint that exists on remote devices (e.g., Device A 710). Still
further, such virtual endpoints may multiplex and/or de-multiplex
messages sent over the distributed bus (e.g., a connection between
bus node 712 and bus node 732). In one aspect, virtual endpoints
may receive messages from the local bus node 712 or 732, just like
real endpoints, and may forward messages over the distributed bus.
As such, the virtual endpoints may forward messages to the local
bus nodes 712 and 732 from the endpoint multiplexed distributed bus
connection. Furthermore, in one embodiment, virtual endpoints that
correspond to virtual endpoints on a remote device may be
reconnected at any time to accommodate desired topologies of
specific transport types. In such an aspect, UNIX based virtual
endpoints may be considered local and as such may not be considered
candidates for reconnection. Further, TCP-based virtual endpoints
may be optimized for one hop routing (e.g., each bus node 712 and
732 may be directly connected to each other). Still further,
Bluetooth-based virtual endpoints may be optimized for a single
pico-net (e.g., one master and n slaves) in which the
Bluetooth-based master may be the same bus node as a local master
node.
[0087] At message sequence step 762, the bus node 712 and the bus
node 732 may exchange bus state information to merge bus instances
and enable communication over the distributed bus. For example, in
one embodiment, the bus state information may include a well-known
to unique endpoint name mapping, matching rules, routing group, or
other suitable information. In one embodiment, the state
information may be communicated between the bus node 712 and the
bus node 732 instances using an interface with local endpoints 714
and 734 communicating with using a distributed bus based local
name. In another aspect, bus node 712 and bus node 732 may each may
maintain a local bus controller responsible for providing feedback
to the distributed bus, wherein the bus controller may translate
global methods, arguments, signals, and other information into the
standards associated with the distributed bus. At message sequence
step 764, the bus node 712 and the bus node 732 may communicate
(e.g., broadcast) signals to inform the respective local endpoints
714 and 734 about any changes introduced during bus node
connections, such as described above. In one embodiment, new and/or
removed global and/or translated names may be indicated with name
owner changed signals. Furthermore, global names that may be lost
locally (e.g., due to name collisions) may be indicated with name
lost signals. Still further, global names that are transferred due
to name collisions may be indicated with name owner changed signals
and unique names that disappear if and/or when the bus node 712 and
the bus node 732 become disconnected may be indicated with name
owner changed signals.
[0088] As used above, well-known names may be used to uniquely
describe local endpoints 714 and 734. In one embodiment, when
communications occur between Device A 710 and Device B 730,
different well-known name types may be used. For example, a device
local name may exist only on the bus node 712 associated with
Device A 710 to which the bus node 712 directly attaches. In
another example, a global name may exist on all known bus nodes 712
and 732, where only one owner of the name may exist on all bus
segments. In other words, when the bus node 712 and bus node 732
are joined and any collisions occur, one of the owners may lose the
global name. In still another example, a translated name may be
used when a client is connected to other bus nodes associated with
a virtual bus. In such an aspect, the translated name may include
an appended end (e.g., a local endpoint 714 with well-known name
"org.foo" connected to the distributed bus with Globally Unique
Identifier "1234" may be seen as "G1234.org.foo").
[0089] At message sequence step 766, the bus node 712 and the bus
node 732 may communicate (e.g., broadcast) signals to inform other
bus nodes of changes to endpoint bus topologies. Thereafter,
traffic from local endpoint 714 may move through virtual endpoints
to reach intended local endpoint 734 on Device B 730. Further, in
operation, communications between local endpoint 714 and local
endpoint 734 may use routing groups. In one aspect, routing groups
may enable endpoints to receive signals, method calls, or other
suitable information from a subset of endpoints. As such, a routing
name may be determined by an application connected to a bus node
712 or 732. For example, a P2P application may use a unique,
well-known routing group name built into the application. Further,
bus nodes 712 and 732 may support registering and/or de-registering
of local endpoints 714 and 734 with routing groups. In one
embodiment, routing groups may have no persistence beyond a current
bus instance. In another aspect, applications may register for
their preferred routing groups each time they connect to the
distributed bus. Still further, groups may be open (e.g., any
endpoint can join) or closed (e.g., only the creator of the group
can modify the group). Yet further, a bus node 712 or 732 may send
signals to notify other remote bus nodes or additions, removals, or
other changes to routing group endpoints. In such embodiments, the
bus node 712 or 732 may send a routing group change signal to other
group members whenever a member is added and/or removed from the
group. Further, the bus node 712 or 732 may send a routing group
change signal to endpoints that disconnect from the distributed bus
without first removing themselves from the routing group.
[0090] According to an aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 8 illustrates
an exemplary system architecture 800 in which discoverable P2P
services used over a Wi-Fi network may allow remote onboarding of
headless devices (e.g., a computer system or device that has been
configured to operate without a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and
which can be controlled via a network connection). As shown in FIG.
8, the system architecture 800 may include an onboardee device 810
attempting to associate and authenticate to a personal access point
(AP) and thereby join the Wi-Fi network, wherein the onboardee
device 810 may correspond to a new device that has not previously
been configured to access the Wi-Fi network or a device that was
previously configured to access the Wi-Fi network and subsequently
offboarded (e.g., to reset the device to factory-default settings
or otherwise change a configuration state associated with the
device, to change a configuration state associated with the Wi-Fi
network, etc.). Furthermore, the system architecture 800 may
include an onboarder device 820 that been configured and validated
on the Wi-Fi network and uses the discoverable P2P services to
remotely onboard the onboardee device 810 to the Wi-Fi network.
[0091] In an embodiment, the onboardee device 810 and the onboarder
device 820 may run respective onboarding applications 812, 822 that
communicate with respective peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms 814, 824
that provide the discoverable P2P services that may facilitate the
remote onboarding (e.g., the AllJoyn.TM. software framework
mentioned above). As such, the onboardee device 810 and the
onboarder device 820 may communicate with one another using the
mechanisms described in further detail above to form a distributed
bus 825 that may enable communication between the respective
onboarding applications 812, 822, which may correspond to the local
endpoints described above in connection with FIGS. 6-7.
Furthermore, in an embodiment, the onboardee device 810 and the
onboarder device 820 may run respective operating systems 816, 826
that run a host "daemon" bus process to handle message routing
between the onboardee device 810 and the onboarder device 820. For
example, in an embodiment, the respective onboarding applications
812, 822 may communicate with the respective host daemons running
on the onboardee device 810 and the onboarder device 820, wherein
the respective host daemons may implement local segments of the
distributed bus 825 and coordinate message flows across the
distributed bus 825. In this configuration, an onboarding service
client 823 connects with a peer onboarding service 813 via an
onboarding service application programming interface (API) 821 that
is implemented by the onboarding service client 823 and the
onboarding service 813. This enables the onboarding application 822
to make remote method calls via the onboarding service client 823
and the onboarding service 813 to the onboarding manager 818 that
facilitates certain processes to configure and validate the
onboardee device 810 in order to access the Wi-Fi network, as will
be described in further detail herein. In this manner, the
onboarding application 812 can communicate with the onboarding
manager 818 as though the onboarding manager 818 were a local
object, wherein parameters may be marshaled at the source and
routed off of the local bus segment by the local host daemon and
then transparently sent over a network link to the local host
daemon on the onboarder device 820. The daemon running on the
onboarder device 820 may then determine that the destination is the
local onboarding application 822 and arrange to have the parameters
unmarshaled and the remote method invoked on the local onboarding
application 822.
[0092] As such, the daemons may generally run in an or more
background processes and the onboarding applications 812, 822, the
onboarding manager 818, and the remote onboarding manager 819 may
run in separate processes, whereby the onboarding applications 812,
822, the onboarding manager 818, and the remote onboarding manager
819 may have respective local "bus attachments" that represent the
local host daemon and handle message routing therebetween.
Alternatively, in certain cases, the onboardee device 810 may be a
thin client, an embedded device, or another device that has a
constrained operating environment (e.g., limited size, memory,
processor speed, power, peripherals, user interfaces, etc.). As
such, where the onboardee device 810 has limited capabilities,
bundling local bus attachments into each application or service
that uses the P2P platform 814 may interfere with performance
(e.g., because substantial bus attachments may require substantial
network connections, memory, etc.). In these cases, rather than
having a local bus attachment within the onboarding application 812
and/or the onboarding service 813, the onboarding application 812
may instead employ a thin client application program interface and
the P2P platform 814 may instead employ a thin client process that
utilizes the host daemon on the onboardee device 810 running the
onboarding application 812. However, in either case, the call flows
and behavior that occur between the onboardee device 810 and the
onboarder device 820 to configure and validate the onboardee device
810 in order to access the Wi-Fi network may be substantially the
same whether the onboarding application 812 implements a local bus
attachment to communicate with the host daemon or communicates
directly with the host daemon.
[0093] Having provided the above overview relating to the system
architecture 800 in which discoverable P2P services may be used to
allow remote onboarding of the onboardee device 810 over a Wi-Fi
network, various aspects that relate to the specific mechanisms
that may be used to allow remote onboarding over a Wi-Fi network
via discoverable P2P services will now be described.
[0094] More particularly, when a device is powered, the device may
typically either enter an "onboarding" mode or a "connected" mode
according to a configuration state associated therewith. In either
the onboarding mode or the connected mode, the device may wait for
other peer devices to connect to the device and provide network
configuration credentials and configuration information.
Furthermore, in the onboarding mode, the device may become a Wi-Fi
access point (AP) and await Wi-Fi clients to connect thereto. For
example, in an embodiment, the device in the onboarding mode may
enter a Software-enabled Access Point (SoftAP) mode in which a
wireless client antenna may work as both the access point and the
client (e.g., software on the device may create a wireless or
portable hotspot that other wireless devices in the vicinity can
use, whereby cellular telephones or other devices with a client
antenna and a data connection can act as an access point to serve
other wireless devices in the vicinity that may otherwise lack a
data connection). Alternatively, in the connected mode, the device
may connect to a wireless network for which the device has already
been configured. In either the onboarding mode or the connected
mode, the device may generally wait for other peer devices to
connect thereto and provide appropriate network configuration and
credential information.
[0095] Accordingly, as will be described in further detail herein,
FIG. 9A illustrates an exemplary message sequence 900A in which
discoverable P2P services may be used to allow remote onboarding of
headless devices over a Wi-Fi network. For example, in one
embodiment, the message sequence 900A shown in FIG. 9A may occur
between an onboardee device 910 attempting to join a personal Wi-Fi
network and an onboarder device 920 that may remotely onboard the
onboardee device 910 to the personal Wi-Fi network. In particular,
the onboardee device 910 and/or the onboarder device 920 may
correspond to smart devices that may execute applications running
P2P clients, wherein the onboardee device 910 may startup in the
SoftAP (or "onboarding" mode) and perform a broadcast search for a
core daemon associated with the discoverable P2P services. If
available, the onboarder device 920 may scan a quick response (QR)
code to obtain information associated with the SoftAP that
corresponds to the onboardee device 910. Alternatively, the
onboarder device 920 may scan for devices in the SoftAP (or
onboarding) mode and prompt an end user 925 to select a SoftAP
Service Set Identifier (SSID) from a list that includes any devices
that were found in the scan. For example, the SoftAP SSID
associated with the onboardee device 910 may be found in response
to discovering the broadcast search transmitted by the onboardee
device 910. In the latter case, where the QR code was unavailable
or the SoftAP information otherwise could not be obtained
therefrom, the message sequence 900A may further include receiving
a SoftAP selection from the end user 925, wherein the application
running on the onboarder device 920 may then prompt the end user
925 to provide a passphrase associated with the SoftAP
corresponding to the onboardee device 910. The onboarder device 920
may then connect to the SoftAP corresponding to the onboardee
device 910 and the onboardee device 910 may in turn connect to the
core P2P daemon running on the onboarder device 920.
[0096] The onboardee device 910 may then transmit a public
announcement signal, which may be detected at the onboarder device
920. In one embodiment, if the onboarder device 920 has an
appropriate onboarding interface, the onboarder device 920 may
establish a session with the onboardee device 910 and engage with
the services associated therewith. During the engagement, a secured
connection may be established based on a key exchange algorithm in
which a shared symmetric key may be generated using shared
evidence. For example, the first time that the onboardee device 910
and the onboarder device 920 attempt to engage with one another,
the shared evidence may correspond to well-known evidence (e.g., a
default passcode for the onboarding interface, which may be
configured as part of factory settings during an original equipment
manufacturing process). Subsequently, an appropriate service method
may be called to immediately alter the well-known or default
evidence to a shared secret (e.g., a custom password established by
the end user 925). In response to suitably establishing the secured
connection, the onboarder device 920 may then call an appropriate
service method to transfer configuration information associated
with the personal Wi-Fi network to the onboardee device 910. For
example, in one embodiment, the configuration information
transferred from the onboarder device 920 to the onboardee device
910 may comprise an SSID, a passphrase or other authentication
credentials, and/or an authentication type associated with a
personal access point (AP) on the personal Wi-Fi network. In one
embodiment, the onboardee device 910 may then return a status
signal to the onboarder device 920 to indicate whether the personal
AP configuration information has been received and appropriately
set, and the onboarder device 920 may then instruct the onboardee
device 910 to connect to the personal AP. In one embodiment, in
response to the onboardee device 910 successfully joining the
personal AP, the onboardee device 910 may then call an appropriate
service method to leave the onboarding mode. Furthermore, the same
mechanisms can be used when the onboardee device 910 operates in
the connected mode (i.e., has already been "onboarded"). For
example, the onboardee device 910 may be connected to the same
Wi-Fi network as the onboarder device 920 and discover and engage
with the P2P services running thereon, whereby the onboarder device
920 may remotely modify the network configuration associated with
the onboardee device 910 and thereby cause the onboardee device 910
to shift to a different network. Further still, if the onboardee
device 910 supports fast channel switching, the onboarder device
920 may receive a connection result signal when the onboardee
device 910 completes the connection attempt against the personal
AP, wherein the connection result signal may be sent over the
SoftAP link and include an appropriate value to indicate the result
from the connection attempt (e.g., validated, unreachable,
unsupported protocol, unauthorized, error, etc.).
[0097] According to one aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 9B
illustrates another exemplary message sequence 900B in which
discoverable P2P services may be used to allow remote onboarding of
headless devices over a Wi-Fi network. In particular, certain
devices may run operating systems or other platforms that lack
support to initiate Wi-Fi scans programmatically via an application
program interface (API), in which case certain operations shown in
FIG. 9A may not be supported. For example, an appropriately
configured API can be used to programmatically initiate a Wi-Fi
scan on the Android operating system, whereas programmatically
initiating a Wi-Fi scan may be unsupported on other operating
systems such as iOS. As such, in one exemplary use case, an
onboarder device 920 running the Android operating system may use
the message sequence shown in FIG. 9A, while an onboarder device
920 running the iOS operating system may use the message sequence
shown in FIG. 9B. In general, the message sequences 900A and 900B
may be substantially similar. However, rather than prompting the
end user 925 to select the SoftAP SSID from a scan list and supply
the SoftAP passphrase, message sequence 900B may prepare a dialog
regarding a Wi-Fi settings screen or other user interface that the
onboarder device 920 employs to choose a Wi-Fi network (e.g.,
because the appropriate SoftAP SSID cannot be obtained through a
programmatically initiated Wi-Fi scan). Additionally, the onboarder
device 920 may include a facility to suggest a name prefix and
passphrase associated with the SoftAP and guide the end user 925 to
select the SoftAP from the appropriate Wi-Fi settings screen. The
end user 925 may then make the selection, which may be provided to
the application on the onboarder device 920. In one embodiment, the
message sequence 900B may then have the onboarder device 920 and
the onboardee device 910 communicate in a similar manner as
described above with respect to message sequence 900A until the
onboarder device 920 establishes the session with the onboardee
device 910 and engages with the services associated therewith if
the appropriate onboarding interface is available.
[0098] In one embodiment, at the point that message sequence 900A
would prompt the end user 925 to select the personal AP from a
Wi-Fi scan list, which cannot be obtained through a
programmatically-initiated Wi-Fi scan on the onboarder device 920,
message sequence 900B may include additional communication flows in
which the onboarder device 920 may use an onboardee-assisted Wi-Fi
scan to obtain the Wi-Fi scan list. For example, in one embodiment,
the onboarder device 920 may invoke an appropriate service method
that instructs the onboardee device 910 to scan all Wi-Fi access
points in proximity thereto, and the onboardee device 910 may
subsequently return a Wi-Fi scan list that includes an array of
SSIDs and any associated authentication types to the onboarder
device 920, thereby completing the onboardee-assisted Wi-Fi scan.
In one embodiment, message sequence 900B may then prompt the end
user 925 to select the personal AP in the same manner as message
sequence 900A and include subsequent communication flows that are
substantially the same as those described above with respect to
FIG. 9A.
[0099] According to one aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 10
illustrates an exemplary method 1000 that the onboarder device may
perform to use the discoverable P2P services to remotely onboard
the onboardee device over the Wi-Fi network, wherein the onboardee
device may correspond to a headless device. In particular, the
onboarder device may initially obtain SoftAP information
corresponding to the onboardee device attempting to join the
personal Wi-Fi network at block 1005. For example, in one
embodiment, block 1005 may include scanning a QR code with a camera
on the onboarder device, in which case the SoftAP information may
be obtained from the scanned QR code, or block 1005 may
alternatively prompt the user to enter the SoftAP information, in
which case the SoftAP information may be obtained from the user. In
either case, in response to obtaining the SoftAP information, the
onboarder device may then attempt to connect to the SoftAP that
corresponds to the onboardee device (e.g., as a client) at block
1010. The onboarder device may then determine whether the attempted
connection was successful at block 1015, wherein an error message
may be generated at block 1060 in response to the onboarder device
failing to connect to the SoftAP that corresponds to the onboardee
device. Otherwise, in response to determining that the attempted
connection was successful, the onboarder device may then search for
and connect to the onboarding service at block 1020. Furthermore,
in one embodiment, the onboarder device may configure the onboardee
device with the personal AP information at block 1020 in response
to successfully connecting to the SoftAP and the onboarding
service. For example, in one embodiment, the onboarder device may
transfer an SSID, authentication credentials (e.g., a passphrase),
and/or an authentication type associated with the personal AP to
the onboardee device to configure the onboardee device at block
1020, and the onboarder device may then instruct the onboardee
device to connect to the personal AP at block 1030.
[0100] In one embodiment, the onboarder device may then determine
whether the onboardee device attempting to connect to the personal
AP was successfully validated at block 1035. For example, the
onboardee device may generally perform a validation process in
response to suitably receiving the personal AP configuration and
validation information transferred at block 1025. As such, in
response to determining at block 1035 that the onboardee device
failed to successfully validate (e.g., because the onboardee device
provided invalid authentication credentials or otherwise failed to
provide valid configuration information), an error message may be
returned at block 1060. Alternatively, if the onboardee device was
successfully validated, the onboarder device may then attempt to
locate the onboardee device on the personal AP at block 1040 and
then determine whether the onboardee device was found on the
personal AP at block 1045. In response to determining that the
onboardee device could not be found on the personal AP, an error
message to that effect may be generated at block 1060. Otherwise,
in response to determining that the onboardee device was found on
the personal AP at block 1045, the onboarder device may determine
that the onboardee device was successfully onboarded to the Wi-Fi
network and the onboarding process may end at block 1060.
[0101] According to one aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 11
illustrates an exemplary method 1100 that the onboardee device may
perform to use the discoverable P2P services to remotely onboard to
the Wi-Fi network. For example, in one embodiment, the method 1100
may generally be performed during and/or in connection with the
method 1000 shown in FIG. 10 where the onboarder device attempts to
provision the onboardee device with configuration and credential
information that the onboardee device can use to join the personal
Wi-Fi network, which may occur when the onboardee device enters an
onboarding mode at block 1105 (e.g., while in an offboarded mode,
after being reset to factory settings, after losing connecting to
the Wi-Fi network, etc.). Furthermore, the method 1100 may be
performed while the SoftAP is available, which may depend on the
configuration state associated with the onboardee device. For
example, in one embodiment, the SoftAP may be available when the
onboardee device has a configuration state in which the personal AP
is not configured, the personal AP is configured but not validated,
the personal AP is configured but an error has occurred, and/or the
personal AP is configured and the onboardee device is retrying to
connect to the personal AP (e.g., if the onboardee device has
configured and been validated to the personal AP but fails to
connect after a configurable number of delayed attempts, the
onboardee device may transition to the retry state in which the
SoftAP is enabled to allow the onboardee device to be reconfigured,
and the onboardee device may then return to the configured and
validated state and retry to connect with the personal AP after a
timer expires).
[0102] In one embodiment, the personal AP may generally not be
configured when the method 1100 begins, whereby the onboardee
device may initially receive the personal AP configuration
information at block 1110. For example, in one embodiment, block
1110 may include the onboardee device receiving a name (e.g., an
SSID), authentication credentials (e.g., a passphrase), and/or an
authentication type associated with the personal AP from the
onboarder device. When the authentication type equals "any," the
onboardee device may attempt one or more possible authentication
types supported thereon to connect to the personal AP. In any case,
the onboardee device may then attempt to connect to the personal AP
using the received personal AP information at block 1115 and
determine whether the attempted connection was successful at block
1120. In response to failing to connect to the personal AP, an
error message may be generated at block 1140. Otherwise, in
response to successfully connecting to the personal AP, the
onboardee device may attempt to validate with the personal AP at
block 1125 using mechanisms similar to those described in further
detail above. In response to determining that the attempted
validation failed at block 1130, the onboardee device may then
attempt to retry the validating process a particular number of
times at block 1125 before declaring that the passphrase and/or
authentication type used at block 1125 is not valid. For example,
the validating process may be retried at block 1125 a maximum
number of times N, or the onboardee device may alternatively not
perform the maximum number of retries if the reason for the failure
is known. In any case, in response to failing to successfully
validate, an appropriate error message may be generated at block
1140, or the onboarding process may be appropriately completed at
block 1135 in response to successfully validating to the personal
AP.
[0103] In an IoT situation, there may be a number of headless IoT
devices that are configured to communicate over a given local
wireless network, such as a user's home network. An issue may arise
when the user wishes to change the network configuration, such as
the logon credentials and/or the SSID, for the local wireless
network. Simply changing the network configuration would cause the
headless devices to lose their connection to the local wireless
network, and there is currently no way to push new network
configuration parameters to headless devices when they are not
connected to a local wireless network. Rather, the headless devices
must revert to their soft AP mode and be re-onboarded on an
individual basis.
[0104] To streamline this re-onboarding process, it would be
desirable to automatically and on mass re-onboard previously
configured headless devices with a new network configuration. To
accomplish this, an onboarder device can broadcast, to the headless
devices on the local wireless network, the new network
configuration parameters and a time parameter indicating when the
new network configuration will be valid. The headless devices can
then reconnect to the local wireless network using the new network
configuration parameters at the time indicated by the time
parameter.
[0105] The time parameter may indicate an absolute time at which
the new network configuration will be valid, such as 10:15 am.
Alternatively, the time parameter may indicate a delay interval
from the time of the broadcast to the time the new network
configuration will be valid, such as five minutes. Either way, the
time parameter should be set far enough in advance of the time of
the broadcast to allow for the current network configuration to be
altered before the headless devices attempt to reconnect using the
new network configuration parameters.
[0106] Before actually changing the network configuration, the user
may launch the onboarding application on the onboarder device and
enter the new network configuration parameters and the time
parameter. The onboarder device can then broadcast this information
to the headless devices, after which the user can change the
network configuration before the time indicated by the time
parameter. Alternatively, the user may be able to simply enter the
new network configuration on the onboarder device, depending on the
network configuration parameters being changed. In response, the
onboarder device can determine the time parameter, broadcast the
new network configuration parameters and the time parameter, and
then change the network configuration before the time indicated by
the time parameter.
[0107] To reduce congestion, the onboarder device may stagger the
time at which the headless devices should attempt to reconnect to
the local wireless network. For example, the onboarder device may
send one time parameter to one headless device or group of headless
devices and a different time parameter to a different headless
device or group of headless devices. The order in which the
headless devices are instructed to reconnect to the local wireless
network may be based on, for example, the priority or importance of
the headless devices, the frequency or importance of the headless
devices being able to access the local wireless network, or an
order set by the user.
[0108] Upon receiving the broadcast including the new network
configuration parameters and the time parameter, a headless device
may proactively disconnect from the local wireless network or wait
until it loses its connection to the local wireless network. Either
way, the headless device should not attempt to reconnect to the
local wireless network using the new network configuration
parameters until the time indicated by the received time
parameter.
[0109] The onboarder device can utilize a remote network
configuration API to send the new network configuration parameters
and the time parameter to the headless devices on the local
wireless network. A delay flag, indicating that the new network
configuration will not be immediately valid, and the time
parameter, indicating the time at which the new network
configuration will be valid, can be added to the configuration
submission method of the remote network configuration API. Such a
remote network configuration API message will cause the receiving
headless device to reconnect to the local wireless network using
the new network configuration parameters after the given delay.
[0110] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary flow for allowing mass
re-onboarding of headless devices according to at least one aspect
of the disclosure. The flow of FIG. 12 may be performed by the
remote onboarding manager 819 on the onboarder device 820 depicted
in FIG. 8.
[0111] At 1210, the onboarder device receives updated network
configuration parameters for a local wireless network, such as the
user's home network. The updated network configuration parameters
may be updated logon credentials and/or an updated SSID for the
local wireless network. The updated network configuration
parameters may be received from a user.
[0112] At 1220, the onboarder device sends the updated network
configuration parameters and a delay parameter to one or more user
devices. The delay parameter may be a time at which the updated
network configuration parameters will be valid. The one or more
user devices may be one or more IoT devices. The one or more user
devices may be one or more headless devices.
[0113] The sending may include sending a message via a remote
network configuration API. The message may include the updated
network configuration parameters and the delay parameter. The
message may also include a flag indicating that the updated network
configuration parameters will not be valid immediately.
[0114] At 1230, the onboarder device may be able to update the
current network configuration parameters with the updated network
configuration parameters. Alternatively, the user may have to
update the current network configuration parameters manually at the
access point. The one or more user devices can reconnect to the
local wireless network using the updated network configuration
parameters at the time indicated by the delay parameter.
[0115] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary flow for allowing mass
re-onboarding of headless devices according to at least one aspect
of the disclosure. The flow of FIG. 13 may be performed by the
onboarding manager 818 on the onboardee device 810 in FIG. 8. The
onboardee device may be an IoT device and/or a headless device.
[0116] At 1310, the onboardee device receives updated network
configuration parameters for a local wireless network. The updated
network configuration parameters may be updated logon credentials
and/or an updated SSID for the local wireless network.
[0117] At 1320, the onboardee device receives a delay parameter
indicating a time at which the updated network configuration
parameters will be valid. The updated network configuration
parameters and the delay parameter may be received in a message via
a remote network configuration API. The message may also include a
flag indicating that the updated network configuration parameters
will not be valid immediately.
[0118] At 1330, the onboardee device connects to the local wireless
network at the time indicated by the delay parameter using the
updated network configuration parameters.
[0119] According to one aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 14
illustrates an exemplary communications device 1400 that may
correspond to one or more devices that may use discoverable P2P
services to communicate over a proximity-based distributed bus, as
described in further detail above (e.g., an onboarder device, an
onboardee device, an onboarded device, etc.). In particular, as
shown in FIG. 14, communications device 1400 may comprise a
receiver 1402 that may receive a signal from, for instance, a
receive antenna (not shown), perform typical actions on the
received signal (e.g., filtering, amplifying, downconverting,
etc.), and digitize the conditioned signal to obtain samples. The
receiver 1402 can comprise a demodulator 1404 that can demodulate
received symbols and provide them to a processor 1406 for channel
estimation. The processor 1406 can be a processor dedicated to
analyzing information received by the receiver 1402 and/or
generating information for transmission by a transmitter 1420, a
processor that controls one or more components of communications
device 1400, and/or a processor that both analyzes information
received by receiver 1402, generates information for transmission
by transmitter 1420, and controls one or more components of
communications device 1400.
[0120] Communications device 1400 can additionally comprise a
memory 1408 that is operatively coupled to processor 1406 and that
can store data to be transmitted, received data, information
related to available channels, data associated with analyzed signal
and/or interference strength, information related to an assigned
channel, power, rate, or the like, and any other suitable
information for estimating a channel and communicating via the
channel. In one aspect, the memory 1408 can include local endpoint
applications 1410, which may seek to communicate with endpoint
applications, services etc., on communications device 1400 and/or
other communications devices 1400 associated through distributed
bus module 1430. Memory 1408 can additionally store protocols
and/or algorithms associated with estimating and/or utilizing a
channel (e.g., performance based, capacity based, etc.).
[0121] It will be appreciated that data store (e.g., memory 1408)
described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile
memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way
of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include
read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically
programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or
flash memory. Volatile memory can include random access memory
(RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration
and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as
synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM
(SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM
(ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).
Memory 1408 of the subject systems and methods may comprise,
without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of
memory.
[0122] Communications device 1400 can further include distributed
bus module 1430 to facilitate establishing connections with other
devices, such as communications device 1400. Distributed bus module
1430 may further comprise bus node module 1432 to assist
distributed bus module 1430 managing communications between
multiple devices. In one aspect, a bus node module 1432 may further
include object naming module 1434 to assist bus node module 1432 in
communicating with endpoint applications 1410 associated with other
devices. Still further, distributed bus module 1430 may include
endpoint module 1436 to assist local endpoints in communicating
with other local endpoints and/or endpoints accessible on other
devices through an established distributed bus. In another aspect,
distributed bus module 1430 may facilitate inter-device and/or
intra-device communications over multiple available transports
(e.g., Bluetooth, UNIX domain-sockets, TCP/IP, Wi-Fi, etc.).
[0123] Additionally, in one embodiment, communications device 1400
may include a user interface 1440, which may include one or more
input mechanisms 1442 for generating inputs into communications
device 1400, and one or more output mechanisms 1444 for generating
information for consumption by the user of the communications
device 1400. For example, input mechanism 1442 may include a
mechanism such as a key or keyboard, a mouse, a touch-screen
display, a microphone, etc. Further, for example, output mechanism
1444 may include a display, an audio speaker, a haptic feedback
mechanism, a Personal Area Network (PAN) transceiver etc. In the
illustrated aspects, the output mechanism 1444 may include an audio
speaker operable to render media content in an audio form, a
display operable to render media content in an image or video
format and/or timed metadata in a textual or visual form, or other
suitable output mechanisms. However, in one embodiment, a headless
communications device 1400 may not include certain input mechanisms
1442 and/or output mechanisms 1444 because headless devices
generally refer to computer systems or device that have been
configured to operate without a monitor, keyboard, and/or
mouse.
[0124] Additional details that relate to the aspects and
embodiments disclosed herein are described and illustrated in the
Appendices attached hereto, the contents of which are expressly
incorporated herein by reference in their entirety as part of this
disclosure.
[0125] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information
and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different
technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,
commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may
be referenced throughout the above description may be represented
by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or
particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination
thereof.
[0126] Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and
algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed
herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer
software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this
interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative
components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been
described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether
such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends
upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on
the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described
functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but
such implementation decisions should not be interpreted to depart
from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0127] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and
circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein
may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a
digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other
programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,
discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed
to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose
processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the
processor may be any conventional processor, controller,
microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be
implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration).
[0128] The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in
connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied
directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor,
or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in
RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk, a
removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known
in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor
such that the processor can read information from, and write
information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage
medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the
storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in an IoT
device. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium
may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.
[0129] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described
may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any
combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may
be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or
code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media
includes both computer storage media and communication media
including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer
program from one place to another. A storage media may be any
available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of
example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can
comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,
magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any
other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program
code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be
accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a
computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is
transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a
coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless
technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the
coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless
technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in
the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes
CD, laser disc, optical disc, DVD, floppy disk and Blu-ray disc
where disks usually reproduce data magnetically and/or optically
with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included
within the scope of computer-readable media.
[0130] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of
the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and
modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope
of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions,
steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the
aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in
any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the
disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural
is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly
stated.
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